Our History

Early settlers of the area were greeted by lush, verdant valleys and thickly forested mountains abundant with game and meandering rivers teeming with fish. They found the headwaters of an ancient river, now known as the French Broad, that begins near the site of The Branches at East Fork at present-day Rosman, and flows from south to north. Only the Nile and the New River, also in North Carolina predate it. The settlers established trade with the Cherokee and were accepted as part of the Cherokee nation based on a guarantee of Cherokee hunting rights in the area, and a promise to keep the peace and not to allow other settlers in. Bisecting the region was an ancient Indian trail that led from present day Henderson County to the Davidson River, north of Brevard. From there it ran over the mountains to the river now known as the French Broad and on to the easternmost of all the Cherokee towns, Estatoe, which is now the site of Rosman. The route of this trail was adopted as a road for the settlers, along which passed many volunteers on their way to serve in the Mexican-American War.

In February 1861, the North Carolina House of Commons passed a bill establishing Transylvania County from parts of Henderson and Jackson Counties. At the first official meeting of the Transylvania County court on May 20, 1861, three prominent landowners donated 50 acres for a town site to be named Brevard as a tribute to a prominent citizen, Ephriam Brevard, a surgeon and colonel in the Revolutionary Army. A monument in front of the present day Brevard City Hall declares that the doctor “Fought bravely and died a martyr to that liberty which none loved better and few understood so well.”

The nearby village of Rosman was named after two businessmen, Joseph Rosenthal and Morris Osmansky, who were partners of Joseph Silversteen, the owner of the predominate industries in the town, the tanning extract and lumber companies.

Early on the area established a reputation as a place where people came in the summer to escape the hot lowlands. Prior to the founding of the county a hotel was built near what is known as Rockbrook. It was burned during the Civil War, and another resort hotel was built at Buck Forest. Many prominent South Carolinians favored the area for its cool summer climate.

At the turn of the century the railroad came through the challenging terrain of Transylvania County opening a new era of prosperity and industry. It took some of the nation’s wealthiest families to resort hotels built at Lake Toxaway. With the county’s abundant natural resources, lumber companies, sawmills, and tanning companies became profitable businesses, and brought the first jobs to the area other than farming. After World War I, Harry Straus opened the Ecusta paper manufacturing plant on the edge of the Davidson River near Brevard bringing the first modern industrial jobs to the county.